What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – 11.26.94

Vince McMahon narrates a video package of Bob Backlund regaining the WWF Championship at Survivor Series. Even though Backlund is a heel, the music frames this as an inspirational segment.

McMahon and Jerry Lawler commentate, kicking off a new taping in Bushkill, Pennsylvania, the same site as the Sunday Night Slam special.

Opening Contest: Men on a Mission (w/Oscar) (10-2) defeat Barry Hardy & Duane Gill when Mabel pins Gill after the assisted splash at 4:06:

Mabel was still getting good reactions at Survivor Series but the WWF elects to put Men on a Mission back together as a team to bolster the tag team ranks. It is their first televised match since the April 24 episode of Wrestling Challenge. Hardy and Gill try to go after Mo’s knee but he fights them off for a while. McMahon announces that Bret Hart is temporarily out of action because of a shoulder injury. Fans learn that Diesel has been named number one contender by WWF President Jack Tunney for the WWF Championship. Lawler questions why Shawn Michaels was not given that spot instead. Mo ends up getting beat on in the jobber corner until he avoids a double clothesline and Mabel cleans house, avalanches Gill, and finishes him with the assisted splash. It makes sense that this turned into a quasi-competitive bout because Men on a Mission have not teamed together in quite a while.

Todd Pettengill does a recap of Survivor Series. Pettengill repeats information that McMahon gave in the opening match concerning the WWF Championship, adding that Diesel is fulfilling Bret Hart’s bookings. WWF Champion Bob Backlund says that the belt is back with its rightful owner. Backlund complains that Tunney is wrong to put Diesel in Bret’s place because he is not prepared to face him. Diesel rebuts that he has dominated the WWF since he arrived. He calls Backlund outdated and then makes a weird argument that Backlund should leave America. Diesel was close to infringing on Lex Luger’s gimmick there at the end.

The British Bulldog (8-0) defeats Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Ted DiBiase) (28-5) via disqualification when DiBiase interferes at 3:12:

It is good to see the Bulldog recover from his prolonged unconsciousness at Survivor Series. The match never gets out of first gear as the Bulldog fails to slam Bigelow, Bigelow does a few moves, and then when the Bulldog floats over a suplex and tries to slam Bigelow again, DiBiase reaches into the ring and trips him. The referee sees that and throws out the match. Rating: *

Bigelow tries to attack the Bulldog after the match but just gets knocked out of the ring for his troubles. After the Bulldog leaves, Bigelow confronts DiBiase. He grabs DiBiase’s jacket but DiBiase buys his way out of trouble.

Kwang (w/Harvey Wippleman) (24-5-1) pins Ben Jordan after the spinning heel kick at 1:23:

John Stover is the guest fan ring announcer. He is not very enthusiastic and announces Wippleman as “Harry.” It is hard to remember that Kwang is still around as this is his first televised match of the month. He lost the dark match at Survivor Series to Bob Holly. Jordan survives some martial arts moves to roll Kwang up for one but then runs into a spinning heel kick. This is the second time Jordan has lost to Kwang this year.

Bob Holly (27-5-1) defeats Dave D’Amaglio after a flying elbow drop at 2:14:

Holly seems to have learned a few things from Bob Backlund a few weeks ago as he takes D’Amaglio down and gets a near-fall. D’Amaglio manages some offense, hitting Holly with an elbow and slamming him. However, Holly comes back out of the corner and a slam and flying elbow drop inch him closer to 30 wins for the year. After the match, Lawler uses the Royal Magistrator to draw Holly as a crash test dummy. It is some of Lawler’s best artwork.

There is a vignette for Henry Godwinn, on a hog farm in Bitters, Arkansas. He puts himself over as mean and that he is going to be in “hog heaven” when he comes to the WWF. Godwinn was Mark Canterbury, who WCW fans knew as Shanghai Pierce.

The Heavenly Bodies (w/Jim Cornette) (17-1) defeat Marty Garner & Tyrone Knox when Jimmy Del Ray pins Knox after a double flapjack at 2:26:

McMahon and Lawler briefly chat about Godwinn’s gimmick and McMahon thinks Godwinn is from Tennessee instead of Arkansas. That is not a good start for the character. McMahon also refers to Garner as “Garber.” There is brief discussion about how the Tag Team titles have been vacated. Lawler floats the idea of getting a partner and going after them. The Bodies do nothing special in the match, opting for a win with a double flapjack instead of Del Ray’s moonsault.

Buy the Survivor Series encore on Tuesday night at 8 p.m.!

Aldo Montoya (1-0) pins Reno Riggins after a reverse flying bulldog off the second rope at 1:31:

Riggins looks good during the match, getting an early edge and nearly pinning Montoya with a Northern Lights suplex. Montoya does not do much in the match offensively other than floating over a Riggins suplex and then doing a reverse flying bulldog off the second rope. That finisher seems more complicated than it needs to be.

Irwin R. Schyster is in a cemetery again, saying future graveside audits will have to wait until he is done with the Undertaker. As he walks to his right he comes across some druids who hold a gold money symbol.

Tune in next week to see the 1-2-3 Kid, Duke Droese, King Kong Bundy, and the Bushwhackers in action!

The Last Word: The feature match was a waste of time but does show that there is some dissension between Bam Bam Bigelow and Ted DiBiase. The show was meant to catch fans up on Survivor Series and make them feel guilty about missing it. Diesel deserves the number one contender spot after his dominant run this year and his destruction of Razor Ramon’s team at Survivor Series. However, his promos leave something to be desired as the WWF was having him make dated references and sound like Lex Luger.

Up Next: The Action Zone for November 27!

And if you would like to read a compiled breakdown of 1990-1993 WWF, 1993-1995 ECW, or of various promotions in 1995, check out my Amazon author page to purchase e-books or paperback copies!